Poets & Saints

Scripture Philippians 1:21 (NIV) For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Refrain Jesus is the path. I choose to follow. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "If Christ represents the resurrected state, then Jesus represents the crucified/resurrecting path of getting there. If Christ is the source and goal, then Jesus is the path from that source toward the goal of divine unity wi...

Scripture Matthew 5:3 (NIV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Refrain The way down is the way in. Quote Francis of Assisi, from The Peace Prayer "O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,...

Scripture James 2:17 (NIV) In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Refrain My faith is alive when it is lived. Quote Howard Thurman, from Jesus and the Disinherited "The religion of Jesus says to the disinherited: 'Love your enemy. Take the initiative in seeking ways by which you can have the experience of a common sharing of mutual worth and value. It may be...

Scripture Colossians 1:17 (NIV) He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Refrain I am awake to God in all things. Quote Mechtild of Magdeburg, from The Flowing Light of the Godhead "The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw — and knew I saw — all things in God and God in all things." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture Exodus 3:5 (NIV) "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Refrain God comes to me disguised as my life. Quote Thich Nhat Hanh, from The Miracle of Mindfulness "Wash the dishes relaxingly, as though each bowl is an object of contemplation. Consider each bowl as sacred. Follow your breath to prevent your mind from str...

Scripture Romans 5:3–5 (NIV) We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Refrain Love and suffering are teaching me. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "In the...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. Refrain I am learning to see with new eyes. Quote Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation "Contemplation is the highest expression of man's intellectual and...

Scripture John 20:18 (NIV) Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. Refrain Attention is the beginning of devotion Quote Mary Oliver, from Sometimes "Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture John 20:1–2 (NIV) Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" Refrain Love is the path and love is the gu...

John 20:17 (NIV) Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Refrain I release what was to receive what is. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "Jesus of Nazareth, an individual man, has become Christ, the Corporate Personality. We used to kno...

Scripture John 20:29 (NIV) Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Refrain I know God from the inside out. Quote Thomas Merton, from Thoughts in Solitude "The only true joy on earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by love into union with the Life who dwells and sings within the esse...

Scripture John 20:15–16 (NIV) He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher"). Refrain Love speaks my name and I am found. Quote Richar...

Scripture Luke 2:10 (NIV) But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." Refrain The Gospel is good news for all the people. Quote Jurgen Moltmann, from Theology of Hope "From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward moving and therefore also revolutionising the present." Hosted...

Scripture Luke 6:38 (NIV) "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Refrain I cannot be separated from the pattern of love. Quote Gregory Palamas "God revealed the Christ in Jesus so that humanity could never be separated from the pattern that he portra...

Scripture Habakkuk 3:17–18 (NIV) Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Refrain Love could not bear that. Quote St. Silouan, from St. Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sop...

Scripture 1 John 4:18 (NIV) There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Refrain I am drawn by love, not driven by fear. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "If you are frightened into God, it is never the true God that you meet. If you are loved into God, you meet a God worthy of both J...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:55 (NIV) "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" Refrain Christ descends to where I am and brings me up. Quote John Chrysostom, from Paschal Homily "Let those who have fasted and those who have not fasted rejoice today. The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously. Let no one grieve poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:51 (NIV) Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. Refrain I have a place in the family of things. Quote Mary Oliver, from Wild Geese "Meanwhile the world goes on... meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls...

Scripture John 12:36 (NIV) "Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light." Refrain Christ is the light in whom I live and move. Quote Athanasius "God in Christ became the bearer of flesh for a time, so that humanity could become the bearer of Spirit forever." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture Matthew 22:10 (NIV) So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Refrain There is room for everyone at this table. Quote Maximus the Confessor "God made all beings to this end, to enjoy the same union of humanity and divinity that was united in Christ." Hosted on Acast. See...

Scripture Romans 4:17 (NIV) As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Refrain I am always becoming, never ending. Quote Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself "All goes onward and outward... and nothing collapses, and to die is differe...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:13 (NIV) If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. Refrain Nothing truly good can die. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "'Resurrection' is another word for change, but particularly positive change — which we tend to see only in the long run. In the short run, it often just looks like death." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

Scripture Colossians 3:4 (NIV) When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Refrain I am connected, and that is enough. Quote Henri Nouwen, from Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry "Community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: 'I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.' It's solitude grabbing onto solitude: 'I am the beloved; you are the belove...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:28 (NIV) When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. Refrain I am caught up in something larger than myself. Quote Thomas Merton, from No Man Is an Island "We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves pro...

Scripture John 17:21 (NIV) "…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Refrain We are all in this together. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ When we carry our small suffering in solidarity with the one universal longing of all humanity, it helps keep us from self-pity or self...